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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him and gave it to David and his garments, even to his sword and to his bow and to his girdle. David went out whithersoever Saul sent him and behaved himself wisely, and Saul set him over the men of war. He was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants. It came to pass as they came when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine that women came out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tabrets, with joy, with instruments of music. The women answered one another as they played and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him, and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands. And what can ye have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day forward. It came to pass on the morrow that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house. And David played with his hand as at other times, and there was a javelin in Saul's hand. And Saul cast the javelin, for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. And Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him and was departed from Saul. Therefore, Saul removed him from him and made him his captain over a thousand, and he went out and came in before the people. And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. Wherefore, when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David because he went out and came in before them. And Saul said to David, Behold, my elder daughter Mirab. Her will I give thee to wife, only be thou valiant for me and fight the Lord's battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. And David said unto Saul, Who am I? And what is my life for my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king? It came to pass at the time when Mirab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the meholothite to wife. And my call Saul's daughter loved David, and they told Saul, and the thing pleased them. And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore, Saul said to David, Thou shalt be this day my son-in-law, and the one of the twain. And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee. Now therefore be the king's son-in-law. And Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seameth it to you a light thing to be a king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man and lightly esteemed? And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David. And Saul said, Thus shall you say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law, and the days were not expired. Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife. And Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him. And Saul was yet the more afraid of David, and Saul became David's enemy continually. Then the princes of the Philistines went forth, and it came to pass after they went forth that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was much set by. Let's pray to the Lord God. Thank you for everything you've blessed us with. I just ask again that you would fill the bathroom here with your Holy Spirit now. Please bless the preaching, and in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Okay, we're in 1 Samuel chapter 18, and the title of my sermon this morning is Enviers. Enviers. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 18 and verse number 7. It says, And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him, and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands. And what can he have more but the kingdom? Verse number 9, I want you to notice. And Saul eyed David from that day forward. This morning, I want to talk on the subject of envy, and specifically what it does to people, some examples in the Bible, and why it is a sin according to the Bible. Now, the sin of envy and the sin of covetousness, if you think about it, can be described as cousin sins. You know, one is very closely related to the other, and in fact, covetousness can often lead to envy as well. Now, what is covetousness? Well, covetousness is the desire to have something that doesn't belong to you, right? The Bible would also use the term lust. It's to desire something, to lust after something that you should not have or that does not belong to you. Envy, on the other hand, can often be directed at the person who has those things. You see how they're very closely related. One is the desire of the actual things themselves. The other is related to the person who possesses those things. So how do we define envy? Well, envy is resentment aroused by another person's possessions, achievements, or advantages. Let me repeat that. Envy is resentment that is aroused by another person's possessions, achievements, or advantages. The Bible would also use the term the evil eye. And in fact, here in 1 Samuel 18, we see that Saul eyed David from that day forward, meaning that he envied David from that day forward. Keep your place there in 1 Samuel 18. I'm going to read to you from a couple of passages regarding the subject of envy throughout the Bible. Proverbs 14 verse 30 says, A sound heart is the life of the flesh, but envy the rottenness of the bones, showing us that being an envious person is very unhealthy, not just spiritually, not just mentally, but even physically to a certain degree. The Lord says in Mark chapter 7 verse 20, and he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man from within, come out or excuse me, out of the hard men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, and evil eye, referring to envy, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile the man. The Bible also says in Ecclesiastes chapter number four verse number four. Again, I considered all travail and every right work that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This is also vanity. Listen to this and vexation of spirit, showing us that a person who is envious, a person who struggles with the sin of envy can often live a life of vexation. They're not they don't have any peace. They are troubled. They are bothered by the success of others. Now, I don't typically cite or quote any of Job's friends, although I will say this. You know, sometimes when I read the Book of Job and I read some of the stuff that they say, I think to myself, man, I wish they were right about some of this stuff because it actually sounds good. It just wasn't right concerning Job. You know, there's some good one one liners by Job's friends. The problem is, it's just not correct concerning Job. Right. But let me quote Eli fast. OK, one of his his idiot friends and job chapter five, verse two, it says this for wrath killeth the foolish man and envy slayed the silly one. You know, that's true, right? Envy can often kill a person because it bothers them that someone else is succeeding. It bothers it bothers them that someone else other than themselves are achieving things and it can often slay them in various ways. The Bible also says in Proverbs twenty seven, verse four, wrath is cruel. Anger is outrageous. But who is able to stand before envy, showing us the gravity and the severity of the sin of envy? The Bible, when talking about reprobates sodomites in Romans chapter one in verse twenty nine, says this, that they're filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, showing us that reprobates hate you and they hate me because they actually envy what we have. What is that salvation? Because they can't have salvation. Right. Peace of mind and so many other things that they will never have access to. Now, obviously, envy is not just something that's subject to reprobates. Christians can also fall into this trap of being envious as well. Let me continue reading here. Romans chapter 13, verse 13 says, Let us walk honestly, as in the day, not in rioting or drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envy. So we see that envy is often accompanied with strife. You find a person who's constantly striving with others, fighting with others. You often see that the underlying motive, the underlying problem there is that they envy that individual. James Chapter three and verse 14 goes on to say, But if you have bitter envy and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envy and strife is, there is also confusion and every evil work. Two more verses here. First Corinthians chapter three, chapter three, verse three says this. For ye are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envy and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men. So what does it show us? It shows us that the believer who is fleshly, they're carnal, they're not walking in the spirit. They can often be subject to this sin of envy, desiring to be someone who they're not hating on someone just because of their achievements or accomplishments. This is a sin, according to the Bible Galatians Chapter five. And I'm not going to read the entire passage here. And in fact, Galatians Chapter five lists the works of the flesh. And one of them, of course, is envying, showing us full well that God does not want us to be envious people. He wants us to be content not only with the things that we have, but he also wants us to be content with who we are. Shall the thing form say to him that formed it? Why hast thou made me thus? Right. God wants us to be satisfied, content where where he's placed us, the family that he's given to us, the spouse that we have, the job that we possess, the amount of money that we have. You know, the looks that we have. Right. The height that we have, the weight that we have, unless you can change that. All right. You know, and I'll get more into that specific topic later, but it's important for us to avoid and beware of the sin of envy. Don't be an envier as a Christian. Now, you're in first chapter 18. Let's talk about a couple of people here and what we can learn from these individuals in the Bible. Let's talk about Saul. Saul is guilty, was guilty of the sin of envy, and he was envying another man's accomplishments and acclamations. Now, in first chapter 18, we find that, you know, Saul returns, David returns from a battle, and these women are playing this song. They're singing a song and they're claiming in the song that Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands. Now, we could say, well, they're exaggerating. You know, they're just kind of throwing out this ridiculous number out there. And that's possibly true. But even if the statement was true. Right. Why would Saul care? And anytime I read the story, I think to myself, Saul, the guy works for you. Why are you envious? Why are you giving him the evil eye if this man is on your payroll? He's the one who is laboring for you. He's expanding your kingdom. He's accomplishing great things for the kingdom of God. You should rejoice that you have an employee who is slain ten thousands. And in fact, if you were slain ten thousands and he was slain thousands, that would be a problem. But instead, he takes this as an insult, as a diss. He takes it upon himself to become prideful and arrogant and angry and displeased at this saying. And in fact, the Bible says he was very wrong. Meaning that he's wrathful, he's angry, saying and the same displeased him. And he said, verse eight, they have ascribed him to David ten thousands. And to me, they have ascribed but thousands. But what can he have more about the kingdom? It's like, relax, man. They're not saying that he's the king. They're just talking about and singing the praises of his accomplishments. Now, go to Genesis Chapter four, if you would. Genesis Chapter number four. So what is he doing? He begins to compare himself with David. Now, obviously, Saul at this point had a lot of problems already. You know, it was already prophesied by Samuel that the kingdom of God was going to be taken from him and given to someone who is better than him. I mean, that's an insult, right, that he should have taken. He's saying there's someone out there who's better than you. They're going to receive the kingdom. It's going to be taken from you. And of course, we know that Saul was already involved in sin. He was disobedient to God. And he was essentially spiraling out of control at this point. Which is why he's insecure, which is why he's envying David. He is envious of him. He wants the acclamations that David is receiving. And at the end of the day, what's the principle that we can learn from him? We can learn that comparison is the thief of joy. The Bible tells us in Second Corinthians Chapter 10, verse 12, for we dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with them to commend themselves. But they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. You see, one way to avoid envy in your personal life, don't compare yourself with someone else. Don't compare your family to another family. Don't compare your spouse to another spouse. Don't compare wives. Don't compare husbands. Don't compare children. Don't compare jobs. Don't compare looks. Don't compare your lot in life. Why? Because if you want to retain your joy, then you need not compare. Because comparison is the thief of joy. Don't envy another man's accomplishments or the acclamations that they receive of others. Envying another person because of their accomplishments, because of their achievements, is a sign that a person has a sense of entitlement. Right? If someone is envying someone else and saying, oh, man, you know, I wish I had what they had, you're basically saying they don't deserve that, I deserve that. That's what Saul was saying. They're like, oh, they've ascribed to him ten thousands and me thousands. I should be ascribed ten thousands. Well, did you slay ten thousand though, Saul? Maybe if you slew ten thousand, then they would sing about you slaying ten thousand. Right? But obviously you're not known for slaying ten thousand. David is. And so that's why they're giving honor to whom honor is due. You know, they believe they deserve this. They have the sense of entitlement. They believe they could do better. You know, and so here's the thing, though, is that at the end of the day, if they believe that they're better than that person, then they should act accordingly and not criticize and envy and have strife in their hearts over an individual who is accomplishing more. Look at Genesis chapter four in verse number three. The story of Cain and Abel is very familiar to us all. We're going to learn a principle of envy in this in this passage. It says in verse number three, and in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought the fruit of the ground and offering unto the Lord and Abel. He also brought the first things of the flock and the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. But unto Cain and to his offering, I want you to notice this. He had not respect. And by the way, this is the first time a new religion is presented in the world right through Cain. And I want you to notice that God did not respect that new religion. What is that showing us? It's given us a pattern that we ourselves as Christians should not respect other religions. You know, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. We believe the Bible is the word of God and every other manner of supposedly getting you to heaven that is not from the Bible is completely wrong. It's damnable. And so the Bible is right. And, you know, I don't believe in this whole, well, we should just respect all religions. Why would we respect the religion that is teaching people how to go to hell? God didn't respect Cain's religion. He had not respect for his religion, the Bible says. It says Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell. Now, what does it mean when it says his countenance fell? This is not a micro expression. This is a mega expression, meaning he's just like. You know, he's he's he's wearing his emotions on his sleeves. Anybody know anything about that here? OK. You know, anybody who wears their emotions on their sleeves, that's what Cain is doing. Countenance means his facial expressions and just. So he's visibly showing he wants everyone to know that he's upset, that he's angry. Look at verse six and the Lord sent him to Cain. Why are the Roth and why is that confidence falling? Verse number seven is the key right here. If thou doest well, shall thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lies at the door and unto thee shall be his desire and thou shall rule over him. What does the Lord say? Hey, why are you so mad? Why are you so upset? If you do well, wouldn't you be accepted? If you did the same thing that Abel did, you would also be praised. If you offer the same sacrifice that Abel offered, you would I would respect you. But because you didn't, I don't respect you. So what does God tell him? Fix it. So instead of being Roth with Abel, which he ended up being so wrathful towards his brother that what did he do? He slew his brother. He killed his brother because he was envious of the acclamations that his brother received from the Lord. But he could have simply fixed it by doing what? Doing well. Right. Go to Genesis chapter 37. Let me say this. Enviers, listen to me, refuse to do well or to do better. Enviers refuse to do well or to do better. They much rather invest their energy in envying someone else and coming up with all the reasons why that person does not deserve that, why that person is unqualified, why that person does not deserve to be in this position, deserve to have that person, deserve to have that amount of money, deserve to have those possessions. They rather invest all the mental energy in envying a person rather than they themselves doing better or doing well. And what is the simple solution to envy? Here's the simple solution. Do better. Do well and thou shall be accepted. Enviers will hate on the overachiever because it magnifies the fact that they are underachievers. But here's the thing, folks, if thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? Let me say this. We should never have a church of enviers criticizing one another, envying one another because someone is doing better than you. You should take it as a challenge for you to do better, for you to do well, because when you do better, when you do well, thou shall be accepted. You're not accepted by envying someone. You're not accepted because you come up with a good reason why that person should not have that position or should not have fill in the blank because you can make the best argument in the world as to why that person should not have that position, have that possession. But guess what? It doesn't change the fact that they have that position and they have that possession. It'll never change it. You can never change someone else's position, possessions, achievements. All you can do is be accepted by doing well yourself. Do better. If they'll do us well, shall they not be accepted? The Bible says in Galatians Chapter six, you're in Genesis Chapter thirty seven. I'm going to read you from Galatians Chapter six, verse twenty five. If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. Let us not be desirous of vainglory. The Bible says, provoking one another and being one another. So obviously this is a sin that Christians can struggle with, where maybe one Christian will look at another Christian's accomplishments. Maybe they look at, you know, the possessions they have, the amount of money they have, the cars that they drive and say, man, I wish I was that person or that person does not deserve this type of car. I deserve that. If you deserve them, why don't you have it? That's funny. You say you deserve all these things, but you don't have it. If you deserved it, you probably would have had it. So instead of envying that person for what they have, why don't you invest that energy into actually doing what that person did to possess that thing? And then thou shalt be accepted if you do well. Enviers are trash. Let me just be honest with you. And obviously we all, to a certain degree, because we're sinners, we can often struggle with envy. Right. We can see some someone who maybe possesses something that we would like to have in the long term or even in the short term. And it creates within us a sense of discontentment. We can be resentful because of it. But at the end of the day, we need to check ourselves, myself included, and say, you know what? I refuse to envy other people. I'd rather rejoice in the fact that they've accomplished that. I'd rather honor that person, give honor to whom honors do, praise to whom praises do and say, Lord, help me to do better. Look, one of my greatest fears as a Christian is to be a hater. I never want to be a hater. They don't know what a hater is. They just hate on you for just everything. They just don't like you for being successful. They drink what we used to call back in the day, the haterade. They load up on haterade. They don't like you to be successful. They don't like you to post your success. They don't like you to talk about your success. They don't like you to talk about your accomplishments. And this is not a sermon on how to identify a hater. Because we can get into micro-expressions and things that people do. It's actually very simple to find out if someone is being a hater or not. But here's just a general way to know. Do people get mad or get happy when you talk about something good that happened to you? When you talk about something good and they get mad, it's just like, good for you. That's obviously an exaggeration, but people do that. Because I'm going to tell you right now, enviers cannot help but allow their countenance to fall when they feel a sense of envy. But you know what? I've also met people that when I've talked about my accomplishments, they brighten up. Their eyes brighten up. Their countenance does not fall. They become very happy. Why? Because these are spiritual people who actually rejoice in the accomplishments of others. And you know what? Be a person who's happy at the success of others. Not an envious person who is just full of strife. And you're drinking that haterade. And you're just filled with envy and strife. And you're always questioning why you don't have that. Why you can't be that type of a person. Why you can't have those things. It's nonsense. Look at Genesis 37 verse 9. Talking about Joseph here. It says, and he dreamed yet another dream. And he told it to his brethren and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more. And behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father and to his brethren. And his father rebuked him and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? And I want you to notice this. And his brethren envied him. But his father observed these things. So even though his father rebuked him, he was angry at the fact that Joseph had this dream, which is prophetic, because he was going to rule over them. And in fact, he was going to save them. He was going to save the nation of Israel via being the vice pharaoh of Egypt. Even though his father rebuked him, at the end of the day, he observed those things, meaning like, you know, he was upset for a little bit. But then he thought to himself, maybe there's some validity to these dreams that he's having, because Joseph is a special boy. Right. Whereas brothers, they envied him. And it's not that they didn't believe him, by the way. Right. It's not that they didn't believe the dreams. It's not that they didn't believe there was no validity to the dreams. What does it say? It says that they envied him because of his dreams. In other words, like I should be the one having the dreams. They're obviously upset. They were coveting the praise that their father was giving to Joseph because God selected Joseph to save the nation of Israel. They envied him for his dreams. And you know what? On a practical level, you know, people could be this way, too. You know, sometimes people are envious because other people are more ambitious than them. Where you express ambition, you express the successes that you want to have. Maybe you talk about some dreams that you have. Maybe you talk about dreaming about having a family, getting married, having children, just living a normal, godly Christian life. And you know what? There's some haters out there that don't like that. And they're just like, well, that's unrealistic. And they just always have some sort of criticism because of your godly dream. That's wicked. You know, if someone ever expresses a godly dream to you, don't be Joseph's brethren. Don't be the person who's just like, yeah, but how are you going to do that, though? Yeah, but like how, though? You know, obviously we want people to be realistic. And often when people express certain dreams to me or achievements that they want to have, you know, I want to be optimistic, but I also want to be a realist. Because we need realistic goals, right, and steps towards those goals. And so it's good to challenge them. But there's other people who, they don't necessarily challenge it, they just try to douse that flame. Try to be a fire extinguisher and try to knock you off your horse and say, well, you know, you can't do that in California. That's impossible to do here. No, it's not going to happen. You know, get away from people like that. Those are enviers, OK? Those are Joseph's brethren. The Bible says in Acts 7, verse 9, the patriarchs moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him. So it shows us that, you know, enviers can't really change anything. Because as much as the envy, as much as their envy moved them to sell their brother, it didn't change the fact that God was still with Joseph. So if you're a person that struggles with envy, you're a person that struggles with strife, you're a person who struggles with coveting another man, another man's position, just realize you can't change if God is with that person. So you might as well just stop it. Go to Galatians chapter 6, if you would, and then we're going to come back to the Old Testament in Proverbs. Go to Galatians chapter number 6. We see here that envy can be described as someone envying another man's accomplishments and acclamations. You desire the praise that someone else is receiving. And, you know, maybe in our church, there's someone in our church that receives praise and honor for their service towards God. And you don't like that. Well, here's the thing, you know, do what they do then. Do as much as they do then. Because there's no consolation trophies. What do they call them? You Gen Z'ers know what I'm talking about. You receive them. Not consolation. What's the participation trophy? Gen Z'er right there. No, I'm just kidding. You know, participation trophies, right? There's no participation trophies. It's just like, well, I should receive as much praise from the pulpit or I should receive as much praise from the person, from people too. You know, I'm doing a thing for God. Well, that's true. And, you know, here's the thing. You know, it's important for us to show gratitude and praise and honor towards people who have accomplished things. But let me just say this. If someone forgets, don't be offended. And if someone forgets, don't be an envious person. Because at the end of the day, you know, God accepts you. And if you do well, you shall be accepted of God. God is happy with you. He's pleased with you. He's blessing you. Be happy with that because you're not always going to get a pat on the back for doing well. But, you know, in general, you will. And if you find yourself not receiving a pat on the back, then do well. And thou shall have a pat on the back. OK? Thou shall have the acclamations. But let me just say this. You know, as Christians, we shouldn't live for acclamations either. It's kind of like a side thing, right? You know, we should obviously do things because the love of Christ constrains us, because it's right to do, because we love our brethren. And obviously we want praise. We want honor. We want people to recognize the hard work that we're accomplishing. But if it doesn't come, don't let your countenance fall. Don't be a bitter, strifeful, envious person towards the person who is receiving those praises for the accomplishments that they have. Look at Galatians chapter six. Here's a solution if you're struggling with envy because of someone else's accomplishments or achievements. Verse three of Galatians six says this. For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work. And then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another, for every man shall bear his own burden. You know, if you do well and no one thanks you for it, at least you have rejoicing in yourself. In other words, you're satisfied with your accomplishments and your achievements. You know, within yourself, you think to yourself, man, I won five people to Christ this month. I won 10 people to Christ this month. Or I've accomplished reading this much Bible or I was able to serve God today and I had the privilege of doing rejoice in yourself. Prove your own work. And here's the thing is that when you do that, eventually God ends up putting the spotlight on you. He ends up magnifying you before the people because he realizes that you're not doing it for the acclamations of others. You're satisfied serving God and feeling a sense of satisfaction when you do so. And then when that happens, the magnifying glass goes on, you people see your accomplishments. You're like, man, you're doing a great job. And then you're like, wow, I didn't expect that. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that. Praise God. Right. But if you're constantly fishing. For those acclamations. At the end of the day, the person who does that is not even happy with the amount of acclamations that they receive anyways. OK. Talk about enviers this morning. Don't be an envious person desiring, envying the accomplishments, a person for their accomplishments and their achievements. Go to Proverbs chapter three, if you would. Proverbs chapter number three. Proverbs chapter number three. Let's talk about the evil man. And this is a person that believers especially can envy. Because they enjoy the pleasures of sin. OK, envying the unsaved, wicked people because of the liberty they have to revel in sin. You're envying the riches and their fame, envying the social media influencer. You know, all the grass is always greener. And, you know, social media has done this to Christians. Were they able to see the best part of someone's life, which most of the time is just completely doctored up anyways? But they see that and they're just like, oh, man, I can't do that because I'm a Christian and I'm not allowed to participate in that. Oh, look at this person. They seem so happy. Look at this guy. He has all these women. Look at this person. He has so much money. Look at her. She's making so she has so much fame. And then and then envy can start begin to swell within you because you feel like you're missing out. And look, this is the thing, because how do we know? Because the Bible constantly talks about this. Look at Proverbs 331. Envy thou not the oppressor and choose none of his ways, the Bible says. Go to Proverbs 23, Proverbs 23. Envy thou not the oppressor, choose none of his ways. Proverbs 23 and verse 17. Look what it says. Let not thine heart envy sinners. Now we're all sinners, but obviously what the Bible is referring to is a person who probably revels in sin, commits sin. Feels like they have the liberty to just revel in the pleasures of sin. The Bible says, don't let your heart begin to envy that person because they're enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season. He says, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. He's saying here the solution to envying the sinner is making sure you fear God. Because, you know, the person who is a sinner, who is just sinning unfettered, you know, living in wantonness and in fornication and in greed and in covetousness, they have no fear of God. So they don't realize that their actions have consequences. Whereas when we live in the fear of the Lord, we realize, you know, the wages of sin is death. And you know what? That is applicable, obviously, to the person who's not saved because when they die and they're not saved, they go to hell. But, you know, it's also applicable to Christians as well, because when you sin, the byproduct of that sin is death. You can physically die. Your dreams can die. Your achievements can die. God's plan for your life can be completely demolished by your sin. So it's important for us to fear the Lord all the day long and not allow our hearts to envy people because of the sin that they're reveling in. And this is applicable, let me say this, to mostly young people. See, old codgers, they've been around the block long enough and they know there's no pleasure in this. You know, there's consequences to these actions. This is nonsense. You know, don't get involved in this. This is going to destroy your life. It's seen a hundred times over, depending on how old they are, you know. They know what are the ramifications of getting involved with the pleasures of sin that sinners get involved with. It's the young people sometimes that don't take those things into consideration. It's the young people who often envy the Instagram influencer, the Instagram sinner, the podcast sinner, the social media sinner who seems to be doing well. But you don't realize that that person probably has a venereal disease. You don't realize that that person's probably millions of dollars in debt, probably has lawsuits like crazy, is suffering a lot of consequences. And even if they're not experiencing any of that, they will experience something way worse in the long term. So the Bible says, don't let your heart envy sinners, meaning keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Go to Proverbs 24, one chapter over. Proverbs chapter 24, verse number one says, Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. You know, don't desire to take a picture with some Hollywood star who's probably a pedophile. No one in here wants to take a picture with P. Diddy anymore or Jay-Z or whoever else is involved in that pedophile ring. You know, the Bible says you shouldn't desire to be with them. Oh, man, I wish I could just live the lifestyle of the rich and famous and just be a rock star. Yeah, and just die at the age of 22 because of overdose or something like that. Look at verse 19, fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be envious, be thou envious at the wicked. What does it mean to fret? It's just like, yeah, I just wish I would just wish I can just have that. Man, look at that car. Man, look at that girl. Man, look at those likes. Look at all these comments. Look at those clothes. You're just fretting. Says don't fret because of evil men. Don't be envious at the wicked. Why? Verse 20. For there shall be no reward to the evil man. The candle of the wicked shall be put out. Yeah, they're like a flash in the pan is what the Bible is saying there, like a candle. It's not going to burn continuously, although they will burn continuously one day. But that light, that life will go out. Yeah, they're shining bright right now. It looks all beautiful and lustrous right now. But one day it's going to go out and all fun is over. So don't fret because of that. And let me say this. There are millions of people in hell who had those things. And I guarantee you, they envy you. So why would you envy someone who has less than you, spiritually speaking? And they may have more than you as far as monetary wealth is concerned, famous concern. But, you know, a man's life consists of none of the things which he possesses. The Bible says you need to change your perspective in life and realize just because someone has more in the bank account, it really means nothing, because what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? You know, all the billions of dollars a person, you know, Steve Jobs, you know, he doesn't care about Apple right now. You don't care about it. He wishes, I guarantee you, he wishes you'd just be you sitting right there, just living a normal life, saved. The Bible says in Psalm thirty seven, go to Proverbs chapter fourteen, if you would, Proverbs chapter fourteen. Actually, you know what? Go to Psalm seventy three. Skip Proverbs fourteen. I'm going to read to you from Psalm thirty seven, reiterating what Proverbs twenty four says. It says, fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. What's the solution to fighting this sense of envy towards the wicked, towards the evil man, towards people who revel in sin? What is the solution for young people? What do they have to focus on? Well, first and foremost, let me read to you from Proverbs fourteen. Verse twelve says there is a way which seemeth right into a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. OK, but look at Psalm seventy three because Asaph struggled with this. It says in verse number one of Psalm seventy three. Truly, God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well, nice slip, for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Now, when I read about Asaph, I think of young people because this man sees that God is blessing other people of God. Right. He's blessing Israel. And so he's comparing himself to the people who are being blessed of God. But he's also comparing himself to the wicked. So it's like, oh, yeah, God is good to my fellow brother in Christ, my fellow believer here. But I also see the prosperity of the wicked. So he's feeling he feels like he's right in the middle. And he feels like he's slipping, meaning he's backsliding. Why? Because he's envious at the foolish, because he's looking at the prosperity of evil men. And he goes through this entire complaint and lamentation over the fact that they seem to be prospering. They have success. They're not bothered by anything. They can buy anything, do anything, and nothing ever happens to them. Look at verse 16. Then he figures out the solution. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me. Now, another way of saying that is that he's fretting. He's like, oh, man, they get all this stuff. And here I am on a Sunday morning, got to get up early, got to get up, got to get dressed. I got a nine to five. I got a regular car. Ugly. Minimal likes on my social media. No one watching my stories. Man, it's just too painful. But then what did what did this guy do? He got up. Got dressed and he went to the house of God. Look what it says in verse 17. It was too painful for me until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then understood I their end. Surely that this set them in slippery places. Thou cast them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation? As in a moment, they are utterly consumed with terrors. So he's like complaining. He's whining. He's comparing himself. But then he comes to the house of God. He hears the preaching of God's word. He's like, oh, yeah, I forgot they're going to hell. I forgot I'm saved. I forgot they're going to be involved in destruction, in misery. I forgot their end are the ways of death. The Bible says, folks, this is why it's important for you to be in the house of God, because we can soon forget the promises of God, of God blessing us. But we can also soon forget the destruction of the wicked. And one thing that will take a Christian out of God's will faster than anything else is not being in the house of God and just viewing constantly the prosperity of the wicked. It can manipulate your mind. It can cause you to think that they have a life that they really don't have. Don't believe the social media life. Because if you were to turn the camera around, you see how dirty the house is. You would see how much junk they have there. They only put their best foot forward on social media to treat people like you. They're miserable. Yeah, but they got a million followers. Yeah, broad is the way. Go to Psalm 106, if you would, 106. So I realize he's just like, you know, oh, man, God's good to Israel. Well, God is good to you, too. The reason you don't see is because you're not in the house of God. You know, that's why it's important. Forsake not the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. You know, being in the house of God redirects your attention, helps you to renew your mind, and helps you to remember, you know, stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. Oh, yeah, I forgot they're going to hell. I forgot about that. Yeah, you forgot that little detail there. You know, you're envying all that they have, but you don't realize this person can have a trillion dollars and not a single amount of it could ever purchase eternal life for them. Not a single cent, not a single property, not a single portion of real estate could ever give them anything that you have. You have everything that they want because of the fact that most reprobates are full of envy. They think that money can purchase their happiness, that money can purchase contentment and peace of mind, folks. Money can purchase a lot of things, but there's certain things that it just can't buy. Well, like what? Like salvation. How about that? I'm looking at the richest people on Earth right now. Churches all over America are filled with the richest people on Earth because we literally possess that which nothing, no monetary wealth on Earth could ever purchase. Don't be an envier. Don't be a hater. Don't be the person who envies others for their accomplishments or achievements. Don't be a person who envies the wicked because they're going to hell. And let's just pretend that one of them is saved, which is highly unlikely. Well, they're still going to suffer major consequences of their actions, and they're going to be least in the kingdom of God in the millennial realm. Psalm 106, let's talk about Moses. We know that in the story of Moses with Coradathan and Abiram, they were guilty of envying Moses for his position and his authority. Sometimes people who struggle with the sin of envy can envy another man's position, authority, or sphere of influence. They think they should be the ones in charge, leading other people. But, you know, because they believe that, we obviously see that that desire is misguided. You know, it's proof that you should not be the leader. If you're the person who's just like, I don't think they should be the pastor. I think I should be the pastor. I'd be a way better pastor. I'm just built different. I'm a better preacher. I don't know. I don't know what that pastor saw in that guy, or I don't know why they're there. Or, man, I could do a way better job leading, preaching, song leading. Why is John up there? I'm way better than John. John wears boots, and I don't wear boots. Who does that guy think he is? Why do they get to play in the orchestra? Why does Alex get to play the piano? We're not stopping you from playing the piano if you want to play piano. We need more piano players, right? Why does that person get to be a team leader and not me? I would do better at being a team leader if I was in that position. Well, it's just proof that you should not be a leader. If you think that, it's just proof that you don't deserve that position. It's proof that you're self-willed and unqualified to lead other people. Look at Psalm 106, verse 16. It says, They, referring to Kordathan and Abiram, envied Moses also in the camp and Aaron the saint of the Lord. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and covered the company of Abiram. Let's look at the story real quick. Go to Numbers chapter 16. Numbers chapter 16, if you would. Because this is something that could actually even happen in a church setting, right? Where different people are in different positions of authority. Maybe they have a sphere of influence. Maybe people look to them for advice. They look to them for counsel. They look to them for wisdom and knowledge, but they don't come to you. And you can often be tempted to think, why do people go to this person? Why don't they come to me? Why doesn't the pastor ask me to, you know, I should be the deacon here. I should be the evangelist. So why does Ulysses, I mean, come on, Ulysses? I can do a way better job than Ulysses. You know, or why does, you know, you can think of anything in the church and people can often get this attitude. Well, I deserve that. I should be respected. I should be accepted. I should be the one who people call sir. No, actually you shouldn't be. And in fact, if that's you, I hope you tell me that that's what you deserve. Because it just helps me to single people out. I'm like, okay, check. Look at number 16, verse 1. It says, Now Korah, the son of Ishar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan, and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and An, the son of Peleth, the son of Reuben, took men. And they rose up before Moses with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown. And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord. Now let me tell you something that enviers do, is that they project a lot. So what Korah, Dathan, and Abiram are criticizing Moses and Aaron for, they're actually criticizing them for things that they're actually wanting to do. They want to lift themselves up above the congregation. They're the ones who are taking too much upon themselves. They're the ones guilty of those criticisms that they are giving to Moses and Aaron. So I'm not being sincere about this. And here's the thing, you know, enviers, this is another point here, is that enviers are not content with their position in life. Whatever position they're given. Because we see here that Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, or at least Korah, is of the son of Levi. So he's part of that priesthood, right, that family. And on top of that, the Bible says that they were famous in the congregation, men of renown. Meaning that God had already given them somewhat of a sphere of influence already. But they obviously weren't happy with that. They want to be where Moses is. They want to be where Aaron's at. It's not enough for them, what they have, they want more. They're greedy of influence, they're greedy of power. And what do they do? They teach power, they have to tear down the leader first. And so, what did God do? Well, he sent them straight to hell. Actually, if you read the rest of the story, that's what he does. He opens up the earth and he's just like, alright, see ya. Because they're super wicked. And they're usurpers of authority. But we see here that they envied Moses, according to Psalm 106, because they felt that they should be in that position. They wanted to be holy, they wanted power. And they weren't happy with the fact that they were famous in the congregation, men of renown. They already had a sphere of influence. Go to Genesis chapter 26, actually. Genesis chapter 26. Envy is a wicked sin. Don't be a hater, don't be an envier. Don't be the person that envies someone in our church because of a title we've given them, a position of leadership we've given them, responsibilities that we've given them. Just do better. Right? If you want that position, you want that leadership, then prove your own self. Do well and that should be accepted as the same. Genesis 26 verse 12 says, then Isaac sowed in that land and received in the same year a hundredfold and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great and went forward and grew until he became very great. So obviously, Isaac is just being blessed of God. He's a hard worker. He's receiving the due recompense of his labor. It's just the result of God being with this man. And it says in verse 14, for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and great store of servants. And I want you to notice this. And the Philistines envied him. Why? Because of his possessions of flocks, his possessions of herds, the great store of servants because he's waxed great. But why is this? Is it because he's doing something evil to obtain those things? No, it's because God is with him. And look, as our church begins to grow, as it continues to grow, should I say, we're going to have people of different financial statuses in our church. And let me just be very frank with you. Some people are going to have more money than you. Some people are going to be ballers. I don't even know if you guys use that word anymore. You know, what's the Gen Z term for baller here? Where's Christian? You guys have one? Adrian, here's one of my Gen Z references right here. Anything at all? What? Top G? You stole that from us. Be original. You know, they're just going to be people in our church who just are very business savvy. Maybe God's blessed them financially. They're businesses or they just come from money. Well, they don't hate on someone just because they come from money. Right? What do you mean? Maybe they're just wealthy. Maybe they just come from a lineage of just wealthy people. Don't hate on people like that. You know, by the way, this doesn't happen often, but sometimes pastors just come from money, too. I'm not one of them. I do not come from money at all. Okay? But I'm very happy where I'm at. I'm very content and satisfied and thankful. But, you know, sometimes pastors, you know, they get into pastoring, but they already have a good job. And don't be the type of person that criticizes that pastor and say, oh, man, they're just being greedy. Why? Because you're broke and he's not? It's not his fault that he has more money than you. It's not his fault that he's a hard worker. If he has a business, he's working hard. Well, he's just greedy of gain. Yeah, but his thousand dollars is like you. You're fifty dollars, though. He sees fifty. He sees a thousand dollars the way you would see fifty. He comes from money. He makes money. Now, obviously, there would be something wrong if he begins to live lavishly. Right? If he is very lavish, you know, he starts pulling up in a what's what's a really fancy car. Rolls Royce? A Bugatti? The pastor comes in a Bugatti with gold trim or something like that, you know, and he has like a butler that can't wait. Okay, then there's an issue. If he's like a prosperity, if he's living the life of a prosperity preacher, there's obviously something wrong. But if the man is just living a normal life, providing for his family, and he has money, not because of the ministry, but because he earned it elsewhere through honest means of working a job, don't be a hater. Well, he should just work full time for the church. Yeah, I mean, you probably have more time for the ministry, but guess what? That's not your business, though. You know? Don't be a hater. Don't be an envier. And there's going to be people in our church who just make more money. Don't be the person who envies that person for making more money than you. Hey, there's going to be people in our church who make more money than you and they're younger than you. They're like in their 20s. And they're just like really wealthy. You older people, don't be a hater. Don't be an envier. Be happy. That God is blessing that person. And hope that that person takes you out to eat one day. Amen. Be friends. Make yourselves friends of the unrighteous mammon. Amen. Be a person who actually rejoices in the fact that God is making others succeed. That's a wonderful thing. Sow that seed, because if you want to reap the benefits of God blessing you and your lot, be happy when other people succeed as well. And you know what? Again, there's going to be times when you're going to catch wind of someone making more money than you. Don't be like, they're just going to blow it all away anyways. They're just too, they don't know what to do with that. They're just, how are they doing that though? Who cares? Why don't you just do better? And maybe, maybe, maybe God's not blessing you with that because you would blow it all away. Maybe God gave it to someone else. Maybe God gave it to that young man or that young lady because they actually, they're financially savvy. They're disciplined. Maybe you're not. These are the hard truths, my friends. I'm just trying to help you to avoid being an envier in our church. Be, rejoice, be happy with people with what they have. Don't be a hater. And look, if you want to make that amount of money and you don't know how, then go to that person and say, hey, help me out. Give me some advice. You know, what did you do to make that amount? I want to kind of go down that route, you know, and make some more money and help my business to grow or whatever. But don't be like, they probably did it by evil means. They're doing something dishonest, for sure. Too young to have that much money. He's selling drugs. Don't be a Philistine. Okay, I see people making money in our church. I don't see, but if I see a person making money in our church, I think to myself, the Lord is with that person. It's like exalting that person. He's, his hand is on that person. And praise God. Now, you know, these men in the Old Testament are not the only ones subject. Like someone who is rich is not the only person subject to envy. Because even poor people can be subject to envy too. I mean, think about the Lord. The Lord didn't even have a place where to lay his head. And the Bible tells us that Pilate, when the Jews delivered Jesus, they said he knew he delivered him for envy. They envied him. Why? Because though he did not have monetary wealth, he had a great amount of influence. And he was stealing all their followers or whatever. You know, he was actually converting those who were under the false religion of Judaism. He was converting them to himself, to Christianity, and they wanted to kill him because they envied his sphere of influence. Go to Acts chapter 13, if you would, Acts chapter 13. Hey, if someone rolls up to church in a better car than yours, don't be an envious person, don't be a hater. Like, whoa, look at that, okay. You know. You know, if someone rolls up in a, I'm not going to say it because I don't want to mess up here, in a nicer car. You know, and by the way, don't allow that to create discontentment within you. You know, it's a sad thing if someone rolls up in a really nice vehicle, whatever that means to you. For me, a really nice vehicle is a vehicle that just runs. It gets me from point A to point B, amen. But you know, wouldn't you, I would feel horrible to have someone roll up in a really nice vehicle, and then it makes me resent my vehicle that God gave me. I'd feel horrible about that. Like, God provided this for me, he gave me this vehicle, you know, he gave it for me and my family, and I'm going to be unhappy with this because God's blessing this person in this area. What's wrong, my friends? You know, I've just, I've tried my best to discipline myself to rejoice in whatever possessions they have, that people have, and be happy with the things that I have. You know, I'm happy with my van. I'm not going to race anybody, you know. Probably not going to give it a new paint job or anything. But you know, I'm happy with it. You say, why? Because it gets me to church, it helps my wife get to buy the groceries, I can put my kids in it. I'm good to go. And you know what, practice contentment, practice gratitude, don't be a spoiled little brat. You know what, rich people are not the only spoiled brats, poor people can be spoiled brats too. How? By being an envious person. Look what it says in Acts 13, in verse 43, it says, Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue the grace of God. And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. So great work is being accomplished. Paul and Barnabas are preaching, they're gathering a crowd, people are listening to them. The whole city is gathering together just to hear the word of God being preached. Verse 45, But when the Jews, that's a common phrase in the book of Acts, but the Jews. It's like everything's going good, but the Jews though. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and spake against those things which are spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. So notice they're not contradicting Paul and Barnabas because they think that they're doctrinally wrong. They're doing it because they envy Paul and Barnabas. Because they suck. As the religious leaders, no one wants to listen to them. No one's talking about the hottest priestly sermon of the Roman Catholic Church. Because there is no hot sermon from the Roman Catholic Church. When's the last time someone shared to you like, oh, you got to hear it to this red hot sermon by this, you know, pedo priest? I'm like, you can't hear? I can't hear. It's in Latin. No one's going to say that. People don't go to the Roman Catholic Church because there's really good preaching there. Right? You know, anybody who goes to the Roman Catholic Church is like, oh, yeah, I love going there because it's just the sermons are just so red hot. He just rips on, well, rips on himself. He rips on pedophiles. No one does that. You know, they're always talking about, they're always talking about the Baptist preachers, whether by criticism or by admiration or because they're learning, but they're just like, you got to hear the sermon. Right? So these Jews are filled with envy because of the fact that they are gone. The Paul and Barnabas are garnering a following by their preaching. Look at Chapter 17, if you would. Chapter 17. Look what it says in verse number two of Chapter 17. And Paul, as his manner was one and unto them, a three day Sabbath, days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus who might preach unto you is Christ. And some of them believed and consorted of Paul and Silas and of the devout Greeks, a great multitude, and of the chief women, not a few. What does it mean not a few? It means a lot. A lot of people are getting converted. A lot of people are listening. God is doing a great work here. But the Jews. Is that phrase again? But the Jews, which believe not moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the base of short and gathered a company, set all the city in an uproar and assaulted the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people. Again, envy being the motive as to why they're fighting against the truth, because they're envious of the position. They're envious of the authority. They're envious of the sphere of influence that Paul and Barnabas have. Don't be an envious. If someone has more influence in our church than you. I mean, whose fault is that? Can't blame it on me. You can't blame it on the person who has influence. You have to garner some influence by being a Christian who is valid, who is responsible, who God's hand is on, who's desiring to help other people. Right? And so it's important for us to beware. Like, well, you know, then what do I do? What is the solution? If I want authority, if I want to be the person in charge, if I want the acclamations, if I want that sphere of influence, what should I do? Because, you know, putting people down is just not helping me. So what should I do? Well, this is what Jesus said in Matthew 20, verse 25. It says, But Jesus called them unto him and said, He know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and that they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you. But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. God's formula for being great is to be a servant, to be a minister, to help others. And by the way, may I say this? Insincerity as well. Being just a genuine servant of the house of God. Here's the last one. Go to Genesis Chapter 30, if you would. Genesis Chapter 30. Talk about envy, envying, being an envious person. Beware of the envier. Don't be an envier. Look at Psalm 16. I'm sorry, Genesis 30. We're just going to read one verse here. In verse number one, it says, And when Rachel saw that she bared Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister and said unto Jacob, Give me children or else I die. Now, what was the problem with Rachel? Well, obviously, later on, Rachel, God would bless Rachel. But really, at the end of the day, the underlying issue with Rachel is that she was envious at someone else's lot in life. You know what I mean? Like what the life that they get to have, the lines that are falling upon them. She became envious of the lot of her sister. Okay. And here's the thing, folks, is that go to Psalm 16, Psalm 16. This can be a thing, too. And, you know, I'm speaking as the pastor of the church, but I'm also speaking as like a spiritual father to you. Don't envy people in our church who may have a life, may have a marriage, may have children that you don't have, but you would like to have. But maybe for whatever reason could no longer have. Okay. First of all, it'll just make you a more miserable person. Second of all, it'll make you ungrateful for the things that God has done for you already. Okay. And you know what? Here's the thing is, is I know that, you know, in our church, there's people who maybe have been divorced. There's people who are no longer with their spouse. And you know what? Some of those people are some of the Godliest people that I know. Some of the most wonderful people I know. I'll just be honest with you. They're wonderful people. I love them very dearly. And the warning is this, you know, don't be envious at someone else's law and life because of the fact that you don't have that specific law. Okay. Now, I know people who are in that situation, and you know what? They're a major example to our church of what it's like to suffer in a situation like that. But at the end of the day, a lot of reasons why people in those positions begin to envy other people and allow that to make them a miserable person is because they're so focused on someone else's law. They actually just completely ignore their own law, or they only focus on the negative aspects of their law and not on the positive aspects of their law. Because look what it says in Psalm 16, verse five. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my law. Look at verse six. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yeah, I have a goodly heritage. Now, this is David writing this. His sons turned out bad. I mean, when you look at his family, it's all messed up. Got brothers killing each other, raping sisters. Solomon's good, but he's a little soft, you know? The kingdom ended up splitting after him. So you go to David like, is it really pleasant, though? But you know what David is doing? He's actually focusing on the pleasant things of that law, though. Because obviously David could obviously list a lot of bad stuff that happened to him. And he had a lot of bad stuff happen to him, right? But here he testifies of the fact that the law is falling apart. The lines are falling onto him in pleasant places. Let me encourage you, if this is you, you have a pleasant lot in life. The reason you think you don't is because you keep comparing yourself to other lots that have more than you. But how about how about you actually compare yourself to someone who doesn't have as much as you, though? That's different because I guarantee you there's people in this world that would love to have the lines fall upon them in their life the way they've fallen upon in your life. They would give an arm and a leg to have what you have. I promise you that. But a lot of times Christians, they become envious of other lots in life because they're critical of their own. You know, they realize they can't change their situation. But hold on a second. You have way more than some people in this world, though. You know, can the thing forward say to him that the four in the white has not made me thus? And by the way, let me also say this. Don't charge God foolishly either. You know, if we made bad decisions in life, if we made bad decisions, own up to it and move on with your life. Okay? And don't force a square into a round hole. Because it's just not going to happen. What you need to do is be happy with your lot in life. That sounds a little cruel, though. It just sounds like mean. It just doesn't sound very compassionate. It's realistic is what it is. But folks, we can bring Christians from across the world to here and tell them about your situation. They'd be like, I would love to be in that situation. I would love that. And so at the end of the day, it's perspective, is it not? And so, you know, the solution to envying the family, the envying the couple, envying children, envying the job is, why don't you go ahead and compare yourself to someone who does not have what you have instead of comparing yourself to people who have what you don't have? And do that consistently and recognize, you know what, I do have a lot in life. My lot in life is to have a lot in life, actually. I'm actually very happy. I'm actually very blessed. I have a church, I have the Bible, I have a church that loves me. I have people that, you know, let me say this. If you have people you get along with in church, that's a lot. I'm not exaggerating. There are churches where people don't like each other in the church. That's very common, actually. I know you're like, what? Yeah, it's a truth. It's a real thing. You know, you can ask Chad GBT. No, I don't think they'll know. But they'll tell you, you know, it's real. Not only do they not get along with each other, they don't like the pastor. They're critical of each other. You know, I would say most people here because I haven't talked to everyone, but I'm assuming pretty much everyone here gets along with each other. And in fact, you actually like, you know, like like each other. You actually enjoy coming to church and you can anticipate seeing each other when you come to church. A lot of people don't have that. You have a church, you have the Bible, you have salvation, you have a pastor. I mean, the list can just go on. You have good health. You have meals. You have a roof over your head. You have a vehicle that brought you here, even if it was someone else's vehicle. You have a lot to be thankful for. And so meditate upon those things when you feel yourself becoming envy, not just towards the sinners, but even towards the righteous. Let not your heart envy the righteous either. This is not to say that you shouldn't change the things that you can change. If you can change it, if the scripture permits it, by the way. Then do it. OK. You know, if but I just need to say it, I just need to say it. You know, if you've been divorced, obviously the scripture does not permit for you to get married. Plain and simple. Plain and simple. I mean, there's no if ands or buts about that. If you've been divorced, according to the Bible, the Bible forbids for you to get married again. And that's period. There's a period right there. We need to move on with that. And, you know, if you've already been divorced and remarried, then you stick to the one that you have and you promote fidelity in marriage in our church and you never encourage divorce. We don't use the D word here. I'm not talking about damn. I'm talking about divorce. And so, you know, but here's the thing, just because you can't remarried doesn't mean you can't live a fulfilled Christian life, though. Fact. That's easy for you to say. Yeah, it's true. It's true. It's true. It is easy for me to say because I'm the preacher. I'm married. I have my kids and I have this law in life, of course. But I'm coming with the authority of the Bible, though. And so sometimes I have to speak on experiences that I have not personally had. But I'm coming with the authority of the scriptures. And that's enough. OK, let me give some closing thoughts here regarding envy. Learn contentment. What a great time to do so right during Christmas. What a good time to just reflect and be thankful for the things that we have. Be content with such things as we have. Redirect the energy you would typically expend on envying others. Use that on improving yourself in your situation. 2025 is right around the corner. Great time to set out some goals and say, how can I better myself as just a Christian, as an employee, as just a functioning member of society? What can I do to be better? Don't compare with someone who has more than you. Compare yourself to someone who has less than you. Not to feel superior, but to express gratitude, cultivate gratitude and thankfulness in you. And then lastly, realize that the lines are falling upon you in pleasant places. First Works Baptist Church is a pretty pleasant place. It's a very pleasant place. I mean, we get you nice and fat and plump during the Thanksgiving and cookies and, you know, it's a pleasant place. Amen. You know, the preaching stays hot. The fellowship is great. The people are normal. The white people are cool. They are cool. White people can be weird sometimes, but not at First Works Baptist Church. It's a pleasant place. Amen. I love you, white people. I love you, Anglo-Saxons. Not everyone's normal, though, you know. We've got a couple of ones that we've still got to work on over there. Hey, this is a pleasant place. The will of God is a pleasant place. The Word of God is a pleasant place for you to be in. Fact. And so don't be a hater. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word and thank you for all that you provided for us, Lord. We know that life can change on us in an instant, whether for good or for bad. And I pray that you'd help us, myself included, Lord, that you would help me, help us as a church to be content in whatsoever state we're in. And obviously we know that's easier said than done, especially when situations and the circumstances are very difficult. But I pray that you'd help us and strengthen us, Lord, and help us to focus on the positives and not to envy one another and have strife with one another, Lord. Help us to improve ourselves and to be in competition with ourselves, to fight our flesh, Lord, and to improve our walk with God. To improve our marriage, improve our children, improve our home life, improve our service for you. And maybe we satisfied with that, Lord. We love you. We thank you. Pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.